In The Name of the Emperor (1998)
A matter-of-fact documentary of the massacre of over 300,000 Chinese civilians by the Japanese in the so-called 'Rape of Nanjing' in 1937. In the name of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, the desperate soldiers, enraged by intense Chinese resistance, stormed the then capitol of China and over a six week period systematically raped, tortured, and killed many of the inhabitants of that city. This is a matter-of-fact although polemical documentary, with many of the horrifyingly intense images taken from home movies made by an American missionary who was there.
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Highly Overrated But Still Good
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
The first time I watched this film, was for a class that I was taking, even though the initial thought was "oh, great" I still enjoyed the film. "In the Name of the Emperor" is a documentary that uses actual footage from the attack on Nanjing, as well as commentary from soldiers and survivors of the attack. There are some scenes in which there is a bit too much graphical content, but at the same time this is required as so the "typical American" can understand exactly what the Japanese soldiers were doing to the Chinese people of Nanjing.The film also has many interesting comments from history professors in Japan, who still believe that the Massacre of Nanjing could not have occurred to the level that it did. Of course this is mostly due to the government's censorship of history, and the blacking of textbooks... But it does allow one to see into another world, that they may not have the ability to look into before.I highly recommend this film to anyone that wants to learn more about East Asian history, as well as anyone that is interested in the history of the world.
This film is a documentary version of the Rape of Nanjing. Other films about the Rape of Nanjing included Nanjing, 1937, which although is a war drama, all of its accounts are based on the true story, and one really could not deviate too much from documentary anyway. It is highly recommended to read the book titled the Rape of Nanjing written by Iris Chang for more detailed historical account.